The Darkness That Followed
by KaraKurama
Summary: Gil's POV. The Tragedy wasn't the only bad day in his life... One-shot


_What happened after that fateful night in front of the Silent Clock? Oz was stuck in the Abyss and Gil…he thought Gil was dead. Upon awakening, the young servant wasn't surprised to hear that he'd failed to save his master._

_This fic takes place on the night of Oz's ceremony from Gil's POV. Remember, they're only kids at this point and Gil doesn't know any more about the Abyss than the few stories he knew at this point. He has no idea that he's being controlled by a Chain nor does he realize who the red cloaked people are._

_I hope you enjoy my first Pandora Hearts fanfic!_

**The Darkness That Followed**

My body may have been controlled by something other than my mind, but I could still understand what was going on. I was horrified at my actions. Those creepy red cloaked people had done something to me and now I was wandering across the grounds to the mansion wearing the white suit Master Oz had given me earlier. I don't remember how I had gotten into it, but it fit snuggly against my body. My steps were staggered, like a puppetmaster trying to get a marionette to walk across the stage.

My thoughts finally returned to me when I reached the entrance to the mansion and Master Oscar greeted me, "Gilbert! I hoped you'd come. You will be at the top of the steps next to the clock. Hurry, boy, the ceremony is getting ready to start!" I was ushered to my place and fussed over by one of the maids, but once she was done, I stood in silence. Whatever was controlling me was more anxious than I was and was chomping at the bit to do what it wanted to do. Terrified, I kept my mind at bay and didn't try to figure out what was going on.

Master Oscar announced the beginning of the ceremony and the thing inside me jumped for joy. Master Oz appeared in the doorway and made his way to the steps to where his beloved uncle awaited him. I wanted so desperately to yell out that he was in danger, but I wasn't strong enough to break the thing's hold to do so. I could only wait in terror as the ceremony commenced and progressed towards me. A voice inside my head began chanting the same phrase over again…

'_The fated one will descend upon the sacred place…and the bell which breaks the silence will sound'_

What did that mean? Something was going to happen with the clock? That thing hasn't worked in over a hundred years. I was growing confused to what this meant was going to happen. It was when Master Oz reached the clock and placed his hand on it that I realized slightly. These red cloaked people must be after Master Oz. He was in the middle of his speech when the gears in the clock shifted. The thing in me finally stopped chanting and cheered when the clock began to toll. I could only watch from the confines of my mind in horror. If what this thing said was true, then something really bad was going to happen and Master Oz was going to be in the middle of it. Each time I tried to tug at whatever had ahold of me, I got shocked by something unseen.

There was suddenly a huge smile on my face. This was planned? Then the red cloaked people crashed through the windows. They must've known this was going to happen! Everyone else had backed down the stairs to stand in the ballroom portion of the hall. The only ones still with the intruders were myself and Master Oz. One of them approached Master Oz and then my body began to react. I made my way to where they were and just as the man stated that there was only one thing left to do, my hand produced a knife from beneath the robe I was holding and grabbed Master Oz from behind. I couldn't believe what has happening. A servant must never mistreat his master!

Just as I was hoping that knife was for show, my arm plunged it into Master Oz's chest. Inside my mind I screamed in terror. I had just stabbed my own master! I began quivering. I was going to be severely punished for this. I tried pulling the thing controlling me out just as a giant glowing image appeared below Master Oz and me. Amidst the shocks, I could hear someone say the word 'Abyss' and it began to click what was going on. These people wanted to send Master Oz to the Abyss. The last thing I remembered was being thrown backwards when a large, black figure came out of the circle on the floor.

The next I knew, I was lying on my side and Master Oz was kneeling on the floor holding his chest. My heart sank. I'd done that to him. I had created that injury on his body and now it seemed it was sapping his energy. The giant form that had appeared before was still there. It seemed to be fighting the red cloaks and was putting up a pretty good struggle. I called out to Master Oz.

Before too long, the red cloaks began talking about the Abyss. It seemed, according to the one closest to me, that Master Oz had done something wrong and was going to be sent to the Abyss. I was confused. He had never committed a crime and that punishment was reserved only for those whose crimes were especially severe. I crawled to the robe of the nearest person. I tugged on him softly, "What did the Young Master do to deserve being sent to the Abyss? There's no reason!" Then the lightning flashed and I got a glimpse of the face of the man I'd been tugging on.

No way… I thought to myself. There was no way he could be against us. I sank back in shock. I had to warn Master Oz… I could hear him yelling to me, yelling to the man in front of me to leave me alone. He picked up the baptismal sword, which had fallen nearby, and charged. I had to protect him…

I had to keep Master Oz from killing him…Master Vessalius. I threw myself in front, yelling to Master Oz to stop. I had barely gotten the words out of my mouth when the flash of pain hit me. I could see red…it looked like blood. I had taken a direct hit and I could see my own blood in front of my face. I clenched my eyes closed as the pain grew worse and I felt my legs give out from under me. After only a brief moment, I hit the ground hard. As my body began to settle, everything went dark.

I awoke later on with no concept of how much time I'd been there. The family doctor and one of the maids had been in the room with me and both gave large smiles when I opened my eyes, "Very good, Gilbert," the doctor said happily. "You've finally woken up. We've been waiting for nearly two weeks to determine if you would survive your injuries."

I sat up slowly, wincing at the sharp twinge in my chest. Odd…I didn't remember getting this injury. What in the world happened? Master Oscar was by my side in minutes. Shoving my face into his chest, he wrapped his arms around my fragile body and embraced me lovingly, "I'm so glad you're okay, Gil. I don't know what I would have done if I'd lost you, too."

Lost? What was he talking about? The confused feelings must have spilled to my face because an answer seemed quite quick, "You don't remember that night do you, Gil? We….we lost Oz, Gil. He was sent to the Abyss."

My chest tightened. The Young Master was expelled to the darkness below and I had failed to save him. The memories came flooding back in a huge wave that, had I been on my feet, would have thrown me to the ground. Flashes of red billowing before me, the monstrous black monster behind us, the face beneath the hood of the cloak…the pain of the baptismal sword slicing across my body all hitting me like a brick wall.

"M-master Oscar…" My voice trailed off weakly.

"What is it, Gil?" The man could tell I knew something. I was the only remaining witness to that night's events and it was certain he wanted information.

"The man with the creature with black wings…the one who sent the Young Master to the Abyss. I think it was the Master." I mumbled and tilted my head down, but Master Oscar had heard what I said. Clamping his hands down on my shoulders, he gave a slight sigh and straightened his face out.

"Let me handle the rest of this, Gil."

Shortly afterwards, I ran away from the Vessalius house. My life hasn't been the same since…


End file.
